Chapter 24 #4
“Kill me, you mean,” I said. “Then raise our son as one of you.”
He nodded and turned his back to me, laughing bitterly as he snatched up his wine glass.
“He even brought the rest of the family at Dawes House in on it.” He turned back to me as he said it, gesturing with his glass and sloshing some of its contents onto the rug.
“Oh, not the part about you and I having a past together. He only told June and Pearlie about that bit. The rest of them just thought he’d brought you here so I could prove I was finally the dutiful son and seduce you, impregnate you.
” He eyes blazed, bright with rage as he ground out through clenched teeth, “And, yes, murder you.”
I could only stare at him, so many emotions competing for dominance.
Whit downed the last of his wine. “So, I went to New England to have a little chat with dear old Dad, set him straight. I demanded to know what game he was playing.” The muscle in his jaw twitched, betraying how furious he was even just remembering the conversation.
“Turns out you were an experiment, Zellie. You survived your pregnancy with Henry so well, you were so strong, and Henry was stronger than he had a right to be without any supplements. It was similar to how my mother had been when pregnant with me and how I was as a child. Genetics, maybe? Your abilities are hereditary, so maybe it made you different in other ways as well. He wanted to study you, study Henry, figure out how to replicate the success.”
I shook my head. “No. That’s not true. I wasn’t just some experiment!”
“Not to me, Zellie. Never to me.” Whit’s expression grew dark. “I told him to go to hell and that I’d kill any bastard who tried to take either one of you away from me. That didn’t exactly go well, as you can imagine.”
“And?” I prompted, although not sure I wanted to know the rest.
Whit set his glass on the table then shrugged nonchalantly. “And I ripped his heart from his chest before he could mine.”
I stared at him, eyes wide. “You killed him.”
“I did,” he confirmed without a hint of remorse in his voice. “I told you I would protect you no matter the cost.”
“And your trips up north?” I managed. “The injuries, the bruises?”
“Asserting myself as head of the family,” he said without elaborating.
I’d always heard that when watching a horror movie, a director will leave the monster unseen, letting the audience’s minds fill in the gaps with their own imagination, often with images more horrifying than anything that would’ve been on film.
But somehow, I didn’t think that was the case this time.
I had a feeling that my imagination couldn’t even begin to do justice to what my beloved had wrought. To protect me. To protect Henry.
My God.
“Give them back,” I ordered, my voice little more than a whisper. “My memories. I want them back. I need to know what you’re saying is true.”
“I can’t,” he said. “Not just by wanting to.”
“Then how do you have yours?” I pressed, my anger returning in a rush.
“They came back when I killed my father,” he replied without hesitation. “I don’t know how or why. Maybe it was the fact that my subconscious realized the main threat to you and Henry was gone at that point. Or at least I thought it was.”
“Was everything a lie, Whit?” I asked, afraid to know the answer but needing to hear it anyway. “Why did you allow Henry and me to stay here? Why did you fucking marry me?”
“Everything I feel for you—felt for you even before I had my memories back—is true. It was never a lie, Zellie.” He came toward me, eyes pleading for understanding, but halted when I flinched at his sudden movement.
“I thought I could protect you better if you were here, keep anyone outside of Dawes House from trying anything as a way to get to me. I made it very clear that you and Henry weren’t to be touched without my permission. ”
“Why would they listen to you?” I asked, eying him warily.
“Because I’m head of the family now,” he said.
“We have rules, customs. They’re centuries old and run deep.
Which is partly why June and Pearlie weren’t going to let me forget that the role comes with one critical responsibility.
June was impatient for me to get on with it, but I think Pearlie hoped you would become one of us instead. ”
The full magnitude of the betrayal hit me, knocking the air from my lungs, crushing me. My so-called family at Dawes House who had seemed to love and embrace me as one of their own had all been a ruse.
Whit’s phone buzzed with a text message from CP.
Cora. Was she a part of all of this, too? His sister I hadn’t even met?
I set his phone on the coffee table and stepped back.
“We need to go, Zellie,” Whit announced with a glance at the message, his tone abrupt. “I’ve made arrangements for us, security until I can completely cement my place as head of the family, abolish the reprehensible practices that have gone on for far too long.”
I nodded and slowly edged backward toward the hallway.
He had to be out of his fucking mind.
If even half of what he was saying was true, there was no way in hell I was going anywhere with him. I pivoted and rushed to Henry’s room, then grabbed the duffle bag that was in the top of his closet and started pulling clothes from his drawers and shoving them into the bag.
“Mama?” Henry asked cautiously. “Are we leaving?”
“Yes, baby,” I said, sniffing as I wiped the tears that were streaming down my cheeks. “We’re going to go visit Ms. Dottie again, okay? Can you grab some of your favorite toys?”
He nodded, his eyes wide, and gathered up his action figures and teddy bear and put them in his puppy backpack.
I took his hand and pulled him with me into my bedroom, where I grabbed a few clothes that would still fit into the duffle, leaving the rest behind. “Let’s go, baby.”
He jogged along beside me. “Mama, is Daddy coming? Does he have his bag already?”
Stifling a sob, I wiped my cheek on my shoulder. “No, baby. Not right now.”
I snatched up my purse and pulled the strap over my head and shoulder, and took a step toward the door, but froze when I saw that Whit was now standing in front of it.
Henry let go of my hand and ran to Whit, who scooped him up in his arms. “Why aren’t you going with us?”
“I’ll be there later,” Whit told him. “I have to deal with a few things first. But you take care of your mama, okay? Keep her safe until I get there.”
Henry nodded. “Yes, sir.” Then he hugged Whit tightly around the neck and whispered, “Don’t let the monsters get you, Daddy.”
Whit’s eyes darted to me, held my gaze before he set Henry down. “Don’t you worry. I won’t.”
I was just opening my mouth to tell Whit not to try to stop us when he held out his car keys. “Take mine. It’s more reliable.” He gave me a quick, sad smile. “I’d planned to get you a new one as soon as you’d let me.”
I nodded and cautiously reached out to take the keys. My fingers brushed his, the same explosion of sensation and desire as I always experienced when we touched racing up my arm.
“I love you, Zellie,” he said. “More than my life.”
His expression was so full of emotion—love, sorrow, regret—it almost made me reconsider leaving.
Almost.
When I said nothing, he stepped away from the door. Without even sparing a glance his way for fear that I’d change my mind, I took Henry’s hand and rushed to the elevator.
As soon as we reached the ground floor, I had to force myself not to hurry toward the front door, not wanting to draw attention to us, but my stomach clenched in sudden fear when I saw Iris sitting at her desk.
“Now, where are y’all off to?” she asked with a grin, getting up and coming around the desk to greet us. It was the same grin she’d always had, but instead of welcoming and friendly, it now seemed sinister.
I forced a smile, hoping my lips weren’t trembling as much it felt like they were. “I’m taking Henry to the house in Charleston,” I lied. “Whit’s coming later after he takes care of some business.”
I took a step toward the door, but Iris deftly slid in front of me to block the exit, still wearing that chilling smile. “It seems an odd time of day to be making that trip,” she said, her voice louder than it had been, echoing off the walls. “Is everything alright, honey?”
“Yes, of course,” I assured her, trying to keep my voice light, registering movement in my peripheral vision. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Ms. Iris.”
I tried to take another step to go around her, but she moved with me, continuing to block our escape. “Now, Zellie,” she said, an undercurrent of warning in her voice, “I would hate for you to rush off without saying goodbye to the family.”
I pulled Henry closer, curling him into my body protectively, and turned my head slowly to survey the foyer.
The other residents of Dawes House had exited their apartments and were drifting into the foyer, spreading out around the perimeter, effectively blocking any possible means of escape.
As I looked at them, their eyes began to glow amber, their faces taking on a feral, savage appearance, their features stretched taut on their bones.
“Get out of the way, Iris,” I ordered, trying to keep my voice even but letting her know I was not about to go slinking back to my apartment to wait for…whatever it was they had in store for Henry and me.
Iris’s lips curled into a broad smile, her teeth extending to become a maw of horrifying fangs.
She stretched her mouth wide, emitting an ear-splitting screech, then it was as if time had slowed to a crawl, my instincts instantly identifying a threat in that second Iris’s pupils dilated, and her shoulders rolled forward.
But before she could lunge at me, a booming voice bellowed something in that strange language I’d heard before, bringing her up short, and she jerked back, sending a startled glance up to the fourth-floor balcony. The predator had suddenly become the prey.